Top Deputy Mayor to Eric Adams Resigns, Intensifying Wave of Departures

Sheena Wright, a longtime ally of Mayor Eric Adams, has resigned from her post as first deputy mayor, making her the seventh senior official to leave the administration during a time of crisis in New York City government.

Ms. Wright has been replaced by Maria Torres-Springer, who was deputy mayor for housing, economic development and work force. The leadership change, which Mr. Adams announced on Tuesday during his weekly news conference at City Hall, is effective immediately, even though the timing of Ms. Wright’s exit was not made clear.

News of Ms. Wright’s departure came as Mr. Adams’s former chief liaison to Muslim New Yorkers, Mohamed Bahi, was arrested and charged with federal witness tampering and destruction of evidence, in connection with the investigation that led to the mayor’s indictment last month.

Ms. Wright’s exit also follows the resignation announcements of her husband, David C. Banks, the schools chancellor, and her brother-in-law, Philip B. Banks III, the deputy mayor for public safety.

On Sept. 4, federal investigators seized the phones of both men, Ms. Wright, and several other senior administration officials. With Ms. Wright’s resignation, all of those people have since stepped down or announced plans to.

The departures seem to reflect the administrative housecleaning that Gov. Kathy Hochul — as well as some of Mr. Adams’s own advisers — has sought as four federal investigations have enveloped City Hall and cast doubt on Mr. Adams’s viability as mayor.

In announcing Ms. Torres-Springer’s promotion, Mr. Adams seemed intent on trying to refocus New Yorkers’ attention, by elevating a respected and longtime civil servant and moving away from his penchant of rewarding his closest allies with key city positions, despite their varying levels of expertise.

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And he presented himself as unbowed by the avalanche of inquiries, insisting that he planned to run for re-election and even bringing back the walkout music at his news conference that he abandoned last week.

With Ms. Wright’s departure, the group of senior leaders at City Hall who were also Mr. Adams’s loyalists has been decimated, with the mayor’s chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, one of the few who remain. But she is herself burdened by legal scrutiny: More than a week ago, investigators seized her phones and searched her home.

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Ms. Torres-Springer’s elevation also speaks to the intense pressure Mr. Adams is facing to right his ship.

Sixty-nine percent of New York City residents want him to resign, according to a poll released last week by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. A majority of Black New Yorkers, who have traditionally made up Mr. Adams’s base, echoed that sentiment, according to the poll.

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